MICROELECTRONIC SYSTEMS NEWS

FILENUMBER: 9312 BEGIN_KEYWORDS WIZnet Electronic Commerce Product Registry END_KEYWORDS DATE: september 1996 TITLE: WIZnet Electronic Commerce Product Registry


WIZnet Electronic Commerce Product Registry

WWW: WIZnet


A.      Profile And History

Worldwide Internet Solutions Network, Inc. (WIZnet) was formed to
be  a  leader  in  enabling practical Electronic Commerce between
commercial buyers and sellers.  WIZnet was formally organized  in
April  of 1995, following three years of research and development
by its founder, Safwat Fahmy.  That research---has resulted in:

* A new generation of Search and Retrieval software, for accessing
  detailed product information in textual and graphical form;
* The largest multi-vendor library of on-line global industrial 
  product catalogs;
* Catalog-linked and secure electronic commerce mail connections 
  between commercial buyers and sellers; and
* Full service electronic commerce access to the Internet for other
  business purposes.

B.      EC-ProductRegister

WIZnet launched its Electronic  Commerce  Product  Register  (EC-
ProductRegister)  subscription service in the summer of 1996. Of-
fered to engineering, purchasing, and global trade professionals,
the  EC-ProductRegister is the most effective multi-vendor sourc-
ing tool on  the  market.   A  subscription  provides  access  to
thousands of industrial product catalogs, which are indexed using
Adaptive Pattern Recognition (APRP) and neural network  technolo-
gy.

This approach _Learns_ the contents of every page and  creates  a
free-form  index that overcomes the limitations of keyword index-
ing techniques.

EC-ProductRegister subscribers receive QuickSearch, a  high-speed
search and retrieval system.  Using QuickSearch, sourcing profes-
sionals can locate every  prospective  supplier's  catalog  pages
that  contain  products  of interest---With A Single Query---From
Any Workstation Worldwide. They can  then  view  those  pages  on
their  screen, print them, and initiate a fully secure Electronic
Commerce Mail (EC-Mail) dialog with the supplier of each  product
At The Press Of A Button.

From the perspective of supplier firms,  the  EC-ProductRegister
serves  as  a virtual sales office.  EC-Mail inquiries from pros-
pective buyers are delivered to their E-Mail box 24 hours a day.

C.      Connectivity And Support

WIZnet EC-ProductRegister subscribers can access the virtual  ca-
talog  library  in several ways.  For Internet users, QuickSearch
automatically is enabled using communications  protocol  (TCP/IP)
of  their  existing  Internet  Service  Provider.  Alternatively,
WIZnet provides automated communications software which  dials  a
Too-Free  Number  to  establish  a  direct TCP/IP connection with
WIZnet's powerful Servers based in Delray Beach, Florida.

Large corporate customers are supported via Direct ISDN,  T1,  or
even  faster and Broader-Band communications connections.  WIZnet
is also adding the capability of dialing Local Access Numbers  in
over  250  locations  across North America and in 180 other coun-
tries, to provide its subscribers with  full  service  Electronic
Commerce access to all business resources of The Global Internet.

Because of its total dedication to business users of  the  Inter-
net,  WIZnet  is  providing  24-hour  Hotline Support to its sub-
scribers.  This level of support is expected by business users of
most  computer  technology,  but sets another New Standard in the
Internet world.


D.      What Problems Or Need Are We Solving For Our Customers?

Traditional product data sources are based on paper product Cata-
logs  from  individual  suppliers, and paper business-to-business
registers, (such as The Thomas Register, Blue Book, Gale's Direc-
tory,  etc.).  Paper product catalogs of individual suppliers re-
quire extensive manual searching and must be kept  up-to-date  by
sourcing  staff.   Paper  business-to-business  Registers provide
contact information for possible sources, but they  are  manually
indexed  and require manual searching. More expensive CD-ROM pro-
duct data sources allow electronic searching, But have  drawbacks
of keyword indexing, single-source information, and manual update
filing.

Some sourcing professionals are experimenting with the World Wide
Web  (WEB)  portion  of  the Internet.  A number of companies are
offering WEB search tools, and the  first  generation  of  search
tools is growing quickly.  But the WEB will disappoint anyone ex-
pecting the depth and breadth of information provided  in  tradi-
tional  catalogs,  for  product sourcing purposes, the WEB is not
sufficiently comprehensive.  Search engines often  fail  to  find
_Links_  to  needed  information,  and sometimes provide links to
out-of-date references.

WIZnet's new technology addresses this need, and by incorporating
it  into  its  unique system it enables practical Electronic Com-
merce (EC) between commercial buyers and sellers on the Internet.
This  system offers instant access to millions of product catalog
pages from thousands of vendors.

E.      Summary

To many, the Internet is synonymous with the World Wide Web.   In
fact,  the  WEB  is  only one subset of the Internet.  WIZnet has
taken advantage of the open infrastructure  of  the  Internet  to
provide an improved product sourcing approach that is far superi-
or to any implementation that relies on the architecture  of  the
WEB subsystem.

By consolidating images of millions of actual catalog pages in  a
single  location,  by  providing  a  powerful  search  tool  that
presents product information in a highly familiar format, and  by
linking buyers and sellers together with a secure Electronic Com-
merce is highly superior to WEB-based product sourcing solutions.

Available to Internet users  or  via  a  direct  connection,  the
WIZnet  solution  has  drawn a quick following among engineering,
purchasing and global trading professional.

We believe that our services merit  your  attention  and  review.
WIZnet's  services  can  be  the cornerstone in establishing true
Electronic Commerce in  your  organization  and  your  customers.
WIZnet  is  a  global  force in electronic commerce, with lasting
economical value to both buyers and sellers.

Please contact me to further discuss this  opportunity  for  your
organization  and  your customers. I look forward to hearing from
you!

Safwat F. Fahmy 
Director 
safwat@wiznet.net




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